Top Five Tips to help your club get ‘Grant Ready’

We're sharing our top five tips to get your club ready to apply for grants.

CLUBMAPTuesday October 29th, 2024

Through our work with community clubs over the years, it’s clear that applying for and being successful with grants often ends up in the too-hard basket. That’s because most clubs are not set up grants success. To help, we're sharing our top five tips to get your club ready to apply for grants.

1. Appoint a Dedicated Grants Coordinator

Find someone who can commit to the Grants Coordinator role, ideally not someone already overloaded with work, like the President or Secretary. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a committee member; it could be a parent, a past member, or anyone who can dedicate an hour or two per week. It is a great entry-level volunteering role that can be done remotely. Larger clubs could even try to form a small team to share the workload and help with collating information.

2. Add Grants to the Agenda for your committee meetings

At your next meeting, discuss and develop your club’s grants wish list. As a committee, identify the top five funding priorities, projects, or programs for the year. Assign your Grants Coordinator to monitor grant opportunities that align with your wish list. If any of your projects could benefit another club or community group along with yours, start building relationships and discussing partnerships. Funding bodies are supportive of collaborative projects with broad community benefits.

3. Register on websites to receive grant notifications

The biggest grant providers are the various government levels: local, state and federal. Other entities, like statutory bodies, philanthropic trusts, foundations, and large organisations with corporate social responsibility programs, also offer grants.

The Australian Sports Foundation, CLUBMAP’s fundraising partner, has some great information on grants as well. Read more by clicking here.

Check the websites of these relevant entities to register for notifications of grants opening or for free grant writing workshops. Attending workshops helps you understand the funder’s objectives and guidelines, and how to address questions about your club’s proposed projects. For many grants, speaking to a grants officer before applying is a requirement.

4. Create a ‘Grants Folder’ in an Online Shared Drive

Set up a dedicated Grants Folder on a club Google Drive, Dropbox, or TidyHQ. This ensures all relevant documents are stored in an easy-to-find place for any committee member. Gather important documents like the Incorporation Certificate, Certificate of Currency (Public Liability Insurance), and recent financial statements, and any other valuable information such as membership demographic data or participation statistics.

5. Start Small – You Have to Be ‘In It to Win It’

After your next committee meeting, have the Grants Coordinator check if your local council or state government has any open grants that align with projects on your wish list. Start small, pick a grant of $1,000 to $2,000 for equipment, uniforms, or volunteer training. Use the language from the guidelines; this will make it easy for the funder to see how your project aligns with their objectives. By starting small and building experience, you’ll be better equipped to move on to larger grants.

If you are unsuccessful, don’t despair; most grants are oversubscribed. Seek feedback, revise your application, and resubmit in the next round or look for another suitable opportunity.

By being set up to easily research, prepare and apply for grants, your club can achieve a better success rate, and create a regular income stream to provide much-needed funds for your sport.

Remember, you’re not alone. CLUBMAP can provide grant support. For more information, contact us here.

ASF Grants Info

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